Get in Trouble by Kelly Link

Nine stories comprise this eclectic and dark collection, which was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize. Three-time Nebula award winner Kelly Link kicks off Get in Trouble with a story about a teenager who is left to take care of the “summer people” in the cottage behind her home when her father flees town. In classic Link fashion, these people are not people at all, but instead mysterious creatures who shape a sharp narrative concerned with class, friendship and human connection. It’s simultaneously bizarre, funny, disturbing and unpredictable—and it’s indicative of Link’s strength at blending elements of fantasy with commentary on the mundanities of daily life. Not every story is typical fantasy fare—though the collection features ghost boyfriends and demon lovers—but together they challenge the boundaries of the genre, and, like the best of fantasy, push us to question the very notion of our reality. —Annabel Gutterman

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